There are about 10 out of the current 23 members that are always sharing their plans, thoughts, ideas and strategies. And they are quite open about it.

I had a real giggle when Shawn Hansen posted about an idea and Andrea Schmitzpromptly piped up in the post “Sooooo gonna swipe this… brilliant!” What was Shawn’s reaction? She liked it!

Now there is one thing you need to understand. Shawn Hansen, Andrea Schmitz and I are in actually in competition with each other. We all focus on helping writers getting their books written, published and marketed. Our emphasis and focus may differ slightly but our target markets overlap a lot.

So why, you may ask, am I okay with sharing my ideas, strategies and research with my so-called competitors? Here’s why.

There is so much information out there on this particular (and every other) subject that I as a single individual will never get to see, let alone actually learn about it and implement it. There is just too much to do and a very limited time in which to do it.

Andrea has given me some stunning ideas in all her discussions on this particular group. I am reeling with the possibilities that implementing some of her concepts could have on my business and my goals and strategies for 2014. In a million years I would not have thought of some of her ideas.

I posted some details about research that I was doing for creating interactive book applications, but one of the challenges I have is that I cannot test anything related to iPhones, iPads etc. Why? Well because I don’t have any of those MacGadgets. But guess what? Shawn does, and so she is going to test out the applications on those platforms. And then she is going to share the information with the group. Can you say ‘teamwork’? From a competitor? Gasp!

Barb Ling keeps dropping these bombshells on us that force you to stop and ask yourself the question “Whoa! How would that affect my business?” It’s exhausting sometimes because the information just keeps coming, BUT here is the crux of the matter. My business is changing because of the information that is shared so freely in that group. 2014 is going to be a very different year for me.

Dr. Mani posted about the internet usage statistics for India, which I followed up with information on Africa and South Africa. I also had no idea just how many people lived in India. Wow! Can you say ‘huge market’? And we have not even discussed China.

Just a note, both those posts show the internet penetration for both India and South Africa is only between 10% and 17% and the bulk of future penetration is going to be from mobile platforms. Can you see a potential market emerging for your products or services?

So let’s get some stats going here. There are about 7 BILLION people on the planet. The Internet penetration according to the report mentioned above is only 34%. That leaves (cue calculator clicking sound) 4.6 billion people that represent a new potential market.

Yes I know that there are other factors involved like income levels, access to technology etc. but let me give you an interesting fact about South Africa. We have almost 50 million people living here. More than 50% of them live below the poverty line. Of those 50%, a whopping 75% (15 or older) of them have cell phones. Most of them are on prepaid phones but just think about the applications that could help them. One of the biggest challenges in South Africa and Africa was being able to send money to the folks back home in the rural areas at month end. Now it is so easy by using the cash send functionality via cell phones that all the local banks have implemented. What other problems could you solve for that particular group, let alone the other 50% who are not below the poverty line?

Do you think that there is enough potential market out there for Shawn, Andrea and myself to carve out a comfortable, or even a highly paid living for ourselves?

If we split that potential market out between the three of us that would amount to 15 billion people each. Would you say that’s enough?

But the reality is that we could never ever possibly help that many people, so I am prepared to share that potential market with you. Yes I know. I am just so kind!

And this is my point of the post. There is absolutely no need for a ‘scarcity’ mentality. There are billions of people who have a problem which you could potentially solve. But you don’t need all of them. Just a few that will help you develop a better business and lifestyle for your family.

Great insights! I love the mutually beneficial sharing that takes place in Barb’s Mastermind Group. Now, all I have to do is figure out how to help 15 billion people! I think we need to drum up some more “competition”!

Diana
on November 30, 2013 at 2:20 pm

LOL Shawn,

Yeah it is going to be exhausting taking care of all those people. I would offer to take some off your hands, but my hands are full 😉 🙂

Totally true. If you help others they or someone else will end up helping you. And those that will steal and sell your ideas will do that anyway if they were to buy your product. In this world of trust, social visibility and checking people out how are people to know ‘who’ you are, ‘how’ you do business and ‘what’ you’re best at unless you share and share and share. I share all sorts of things I’ve spent sometimes months working out and fully expect someone else to take that, sell it and claim credit. But most of what I share isn’t what I sell and I’m sharing it anyway to build credibility, knowledge and friendship as those who play nicely tend to then help each other.

Diana
on November 30, 2013 at 2:15 pm

Colin,

I totally agree with you. There are people who will take advantage of you, but they will not build long-term sustainable businesses. They are too busy looking for ideas to rip-off instead of focusing on a long term strategy for their business. Their brief success will be nothing but a flash in the pan, and then they have to go looking for more products and new customers because they burnt the last ones.

In keeping with the theme of “Finding Nemo”, my mantra is “Just keep Sharing. Just keep Sharing” 😀

Di

P.S. There are just SO MANY life lessons in that movie, which I must have watched at least 100 times. I can thank my kids for that. 😉